"contain tensions" is a correct and usable phrase in written English.
You could use it to describe a situation that has complicated elements, or in which both sides of an argument have not yet come to a resolution. Example: The meeting was expected to contain tensions, but instead they found a quick and amicable resolution.
Mr. Kerry noted that Mr. Obama had canceled some American military exercises to contain tensions in the region.
European leaders are struggling to contain tensions in the Turkish diaspora community after the failed coup widened the gulf between supporters of the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and the man he accuses of orchestrating the uprising, Fethullah Gülen.
On the agenda: How to contain tensions between their respective camps, which had spilled into public in recent months as Mr. Paterson's standing with the public plunged and Mr. Cuomo's swelled.
Seeking to contain tensions between India and Pakistan, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said today that he would visit both countries next week, and possibly others in the region, on his way to an international conference on the reconstruction of Afghanistan.
The encampments around the country (and the world) embrace a panoply of causes, and contain tensions and fissure the protesters themselves acknowledge and even welcome.
In October, the International Crisis Group (ICG) released a report speculating that anti-Muslim attacks would continue unless the government acted more effectively to contain tensions.
Good heroes and good stories contain tension, which you can only get if your hero has something to struggle against.
Mr Ferguson suggests that with a little more luck and intelligence, hostilities could have been averted and the European powers settled down into a state of safe, contained tension like the cold war.
The high Arousal and low Valence quadrant (A−V+) contained "Tension" as a unique category, whereas Sadness corresponded to the low Arousal and low Valence category (A−V−).
France is struggling to contain sectarian tensions.
It is asserting its diplomatic power across Asia and around the world, but struggling to contain explosive tensions at home.
